ALEXANDRIA POLICE DEPARTMENT
Public Information Office
2003 Mill Road
Alexandria, Virginia 22314
(703) 838-4636
MEDIA ADVISORY
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
APRIL 21, 1999 #99-021
2:00 P.M. BERTSCH
Alexandria Police to Double Officers in City Schools
Federal Grant Funds Two More School Resource Officers, One Residential Officer
Today, the U.S. Department of Justice notified the Alexandria Police Department that it had approved federal funding of two additional School Resource Officers (SROs). The new SROs will be assigned to work at T.C. Williams High School and Minnie Howard School, the two Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS) for students in the ninth through twelfth grades.
Alexandria Police began its SRO program nearly two years ago when the first SRO was placed at George Washington Middle School at the beginning of the 1997-98 school year. Later that year, the second SRO was assigned to Francis C. Hammond Middle School. With the addition of the two new SROs, Alexandria Police will have a full-time officer assigned to each of the ACPS middle and high schools.
"I am delighted that the Alexandria Police Department has received this grant," says Chief of Police Charles E. Samarra. "The Department is committed to continuing and expanding its successful partnership with our schools. Through a positive and active police presence, violence in schools can be deterred and prevented."
The federal grant also provides funding for a Residential Police Officer (RPO) in the South Whiting Street community. The Alexandria Police Department began its RPO program in 1992 and with this latest addition, six neighborhoods will be served by officers who live in the communities they serve.
The federal grant, from the COPS Universal Hiring Program, is for $225,000 over three years, with the City increasing its portion of the funding each year as the federal funding decreases.
For further details, please call the Public Information Office at (703) 838-4636.
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